


Under the Sea

by 42hrb



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Lydia-centric, Mermaid Cora Hale, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-23 01:49:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7461858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/42hrb/pseuds/42hrb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lydia’s life was painfully ordinary. She felt trapped on the port island where she had lived her entire life. It felt as if everything was black and white until one day she meets Cora, who gives her life some color.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under the Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thewolfwitch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewolfwitch/gifts).



> This is my first time dipping my toes into the Cordia world, I hope you like it. 
> 
> I blame [Gabs](http://wibblywobblytimeywimeygirl.tumblr.com/) for this

Lydia Martin had always felt suffocated, like she wasn't meant to be on the small stop over, port island of Beacon Hill, like she was meant to be somewhere that she could be free, but here she was, on the small island and she felt like the air was too heavy for her lungs.It was as if she was born in the wrong time, the wrong place, in the wrong skin, but she couldn’t change it.She felt like there were pieces of her missing that she should be out in the world finding, but instead she was on a small rock in the ocean with no way out.The only time she felt the weight lift, felt like she could breathe properly was when she went down to the rocky beach on the east side of the island in the early hours of the morning, just before dawn.

One morning in mid-April, just as the weather was starting to get nice enough to swim again, Lydia made her way to the beach, like she always did.She walked over the cool sand and rocks until she got to her favorite spot, a boulder that was half in the water, half on the sand, weathered from years and years of rain, wind, and waves. 

She clambered onto the rock, leaving her shoes on the sand, and laid down, letting her toes hang over the side so they were lapped by the waves. It was still dark, but the sky was starting to turn that yellowy purple that meant the sun would rise soon.This was Lydia’s favorite part of the day, the part when she was alone with her thoughts and the ocean.

It wasn’t that her life was bad, it had been hard when she was young, her mother had passed away giving birth to her, her sister ran off with the captain of one of the ships that stopped over in Beacon Port, her father was disinterested in her at best, he had wanted a son.  Her life was boring.She didn’t work, her father didn’t let her, she had read and reread most of the books in the towns small library, she knew every inch of the island, and her only friends, Allison and Stiles, had left years before.

Allison had gone with her father to the mainland because it was a better opportunity for their business, Lydia didn’t fault her, they wrote each other letters and Allison had invited her to live with them on more then one occasion, but Lydia couldn’t stand the idea of living somewhere that wasn’t surrounded by water. 

Stiles was a different story.He had just, disappeared.One day he had come into the library while she was there with a tall and handsome stranger that Stiles had introduced as Derek, the next day Stiles was gone.She knew that Derek was someone special to Stiles, he had been talking about him for years, but Lydia had thought he was made up until that moment.Derek had walked like he was still getting his land legs after a long voyage at sea, so she assumed that he had offered Stiles the chance to leave and Stiles had nothing holding him to the island, his family was dead and he was practically alone. 

So Lydia was about as alone as she ever had been as she lay on the rock, her heartbeatfelt in time with the waves as they came in and rolled out.As the sky got brighter she sat up and watched the horizon, there was a ship leaving in the distance and she wondered if she would ever go anywhere. 

Suddenly something broke through the relatively calm surface of the water a little further out and Lydia eyed it.It could be a branch or something off a ship, but for some reason she got the feeling that it wasn’t, she felt like it was something important, her stomach clenched as she watched whatever it was move closer to the shore, as it _swam_ closer to the shore. 

The person, was it a person, people don’t just pop up in the water out of nowhere, was swimming toward her.She knew that she should be scared, but for some reason she had an overwhelming sense of calm as the person, creature, approached her. 

It was a woman, Lydia realized when she was about fifteen feet away and the sun broke across the horizon, setting the sky on fire. She was beautiful, her skin so fair it was nearly translucent, her long brown hair was braided and filled with seaweed and shells, her eyes were brown but looked like someone had trapped honey in them.Lydia felt as if she could swim away in them.

“Hello,” the woman said, or was she a girl, she couldn’t be much older then Lydia and Lydia was only 20. 

“Hello,” Lydia replied as the girl pulled herself half out of the water, holding herself up on the rock with strong arms, but Lydia wasn’t looking at the arms, she was looking at where the girls legs should have been, because there wasn’t legs, there was a long and beautiful tail, covered in golden scales that glinted in the early morning light. The girl just looked at Lydia, as if she was cataloging everything about her, “What - who are you?”

“Oh, that was rude of me,” The girl said, her voice sounded like a song Lydia could listen to all day.It sounded like the wind, like waves, like a laugh, all rolled into one.It couldn’t be human, no human voice was that beautiful, but then again this girl clearly wasn’t human.“I’m Cora, I’m what you would call a mermaid.”

“Lydia,” She said, extending her hand and the girl, the _mermaid_ , didn’t shake it, not she took it and gently brought it to her lips, kissing it before letting it fall back to Lydia’s side. 

“I know,” Cora said, a sly smile on her face, “You come here often.”

“That wouldn’t mean you know my name,” Lydia shot back putting her toes out of the water and tucking them under her in a criss-cross. Cora just smiled, bright and uninhibited, watching Lydia.“So how do you know my name?”

“We have a mutual friend," Cora explained, splashing her tail gently in the water. “Well he’s not really _my_ friend, but he is married to my brother.”

“Your brother?” Lydia asked, confused.

“Derek, he said he met you once when he had legs and came onto the land, it’s tradition that the merperson who married a human see if they wish to live as a human or if the human wants to live as a merperson.” Cora explained, her head cocked slightly to the side.She was looking at Lydia like she was trying to remember very freckle on her face. 

“Stiles,” Lydia said slowly, understanding dawning on her, “Stiles married a mermaid.”

“Merman,” Cora corrected softly, “He told me about you, he said you were the most beautiful girl he had ever known.I had to see for myself.”

“Oh and what’s the verdict,” Lydia said, her voice light but her heart pounding.She didn’t know why she was so invested in the answer, she had just met this girl, this girl who was a mermaid, but something about her seemed familiar, like she had known her in every lifetime that she had ever lived. 

“I’m not sure if I’d say the most beautiful,” Cora said, but her eyes were alight and her voice teasing.“But it was certainly worth the early rising and the trip to see you for myself.”

“I’m so sorry to disappoint,” Lydia shot back, but she smiled and Cora took one of her pale hands and caressed Lydia’s cheek before pushing herself off the rock and back into the water. “Where are you going?”

“Soon there will be humans on the beach and humans tend to not like things they don’t understand,” Cora said, “I will come back to see you though, Lydia.”

When she said Lydia it sounded like a promise, “Until then, goodbye I suppose,” Lydia said with a small wave.Cora waved back before she dove under the water, leaving Lydia impossibly alone and more lonely then she had ever felt in her life.

————

The next morning Lydia found herself back on her rock, this time laying on her stomach, hands dancing over the water as she watched the sky turn slowly brighter.She wasn’t expecting Cora to come back today, if she ever came back at all.She was half convinced she had made the entire thing up.But then in the distance she saw something break through the surface of the water and she felt her stomach unclench.

“You came back,” Lydia said as Cora swam within earshot. 

“Well of course I did,” she said with a smile.She pulled her top half out of the water again, so she was next to Lydia, her back to the sun. “Your Stiles says hello.”

“Tell him I’m furious at him for leaving without saying goodbye,” Lydia said, but she was smiling.“Is it a long swim to get here?”

“Not too long,” Cora said, “I would swim further to see you.”

“You barely know me,” Lydia said, but she knew the feeling.She felt like she would walk halfway around the world to see Cora again.Something inside of her was slipping into place that she hadn’t know was in the wrong spot to begin with.

“I would like to,” Cora said as she splashed her tail a little, getting some water on Lydia’s face, “Do you like the ocean?”

“I love it more then I love most things,” Lydia said honestly, looking out at the horizon wistfully.

“I feel the same way,” Cora said sinking a little lower into the water, “Would you like to swim with me?”

“I won’t be able to keep up,” Lydia said a little sadly.

“Oh that’s okay,” Cora said with a smile, pushing off the rock and back into the water, her long brown hair wasn’t braided today, but there were still shells in it as it fanned out behind her in the water, “We can just float.”

Lydia looked down at herself, she was wearing a little blue dress but she didn’t really care as she slipped into the water and immediately felt at home. “The water suits you,” Cora said as Lydia floated away from the rock. The water was deeper the most people expected but Lydia knew it well. 

“It feels like home,” Lydia said as she let her long red hair rippled out behind her. 

She felt something under her and almost screamed until she realized it was Cora’s tail. She ran a hand over it, the scales felt cool and soft under her hand, not slimy like she had been expecting. When her gaze met Cora’s the other girls eyes were half shut.“I know the feeling.”

————

When Lydia got home later that morning, later then usual, her father sat at the kitchen table with coffee and the newspaper, her didn't notice that she was dripping wet, he didn’t notice her at all. 

————

Her daily life continued as it always had, she woke early to watch the sunrise over the ocean, she went to the library to read books, she avoided her father and his comments about finding her someone to marry, she was generally alone.But there was something different too, now when she watched the sunrise she was almost never alone, now when she read books at the library she was thinking about honey brown eyes and brown hair, about a golden tail and fair skin. 

It was mid July when Cora appeared in the distance with two other figures.Lydia sat up on her rock, her toes barely skimming the water as she watched the trio swim closer.“Lydia!” Cora called, her voice excited, “I brought someone you might like to see.”

“Lyds!” The familiar voice of Stiles Stilinski met her ears and a smile broke across her face. 

“Stiles!” She pushed herself up off the rock and jumped into the water with a splash.She heard Cora’s laugh as she swam toward them.She wrapped her arms around Stiles’ neck when she reached them, “I can’t believe you left me without saying goodbye.”

“Sorry,” Stiles said, his eyes darted to Derek, “But there wasn’t really time to say goodbyes.” 

Lydia understood the process a little bit, the merperson had to spend a day on land, to see if it was where they wanted to spend their life, with their human, as a human, and if both parties agreed that it was they would keep their legs, except on the night of a new moon, on that night they could both go to the ocean and once they touched the water they would grow their tails, but at sunrise their legs would come back. 

The human had to spend a day in the sea with a tail, if they wanted that life, they could stay a merperson, but it all had to happen on the day of a new moon, so there was a month between each phase, no matter which way the couple did it.If Stiles had spent a day as a merman first, it would make sense that there wasn’t time to say goodbye, at sundown the day Derek came onto land Stiles would have made his choice.

Lydia knew what choice she would make, if she were given one. “Well I’m glad you’re here now.”

That morning Lydia swam out further then she ever had, until the shore became nothing but a line on the horizon.The further they got from the shore the more free Lydia felt. “I love it out here,” Lydia said, she was floating on her back, her legs resting on Cora’s tail. 

“Stay,” She heard Cora whisper but before she could say anything Derek spoke.

“We should go soon,” His eyes were on a ship that was sailing in the opposite direction, but Lydia knew that Derek had a terrible experience with fishermen once, the kind who didn’t hunt for fish, but for merpeople. 

Stiles nodded and hugged Lydia before he and Derek swam under the water and away from Cora and Lydia.“Swim me back?”

Cora smiled as she wrapped an arm around Lydia’s middle and started swimming, tail splashing more then in needed to so that she could get Lydia’s face every so often.“I miss you when I go,” Cora said as they got closer to the shore and Lydia started swimming on her own. 

“I miss you too,” Lydia said.She had just reached her rock and leaned against it so she could face Cora.

She looked into Cora’s eyes and her breathe caught in her chest.When Cora kissed her it was like the first time she had stepped into the ocean, it was her favorite book, it was like coming home. Cora wrapped her arms around Lydia’s middle, holding her up as they kissed, Lydia’s arms wrapped around her neck and pulled her closer. 

This was what kissing was supposed to be like.It wasn’t suppose to be sloppy kissing behind the school with a boy she barely tolerated, it wasn’t suppose to be chaste kissed with a boy she barely knew, it was suppose to be this.It was suppose to bring her back to life after it killed her. 

“I have a question for you,” Cora asked after they broke apart, her voice sounder rough, like the kiss had taken her apart as much as it had taken Lydia. Lydia nodded and Cora continued, her voice quieter then usual as she spoke, “There is a new moon tomorrow night, would you like to spend the day at sea with me?”

“Yes!” Lydia said without pause.

“You understand what I’m asking you?” Cora said slowly, because this was a big decision, this was Cora formally courting Lydia in merpeople tradition. 

“Yes,” Lydia said, leaning forward and kissing Cora again, “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

Cora broke into a smile.“I will be back by sunrise then.”

She didn’t leave just then though, she leaned forward and kissed Lydia again, slow and sweet, her lips fitting perfectly against hers as they kissed.It was like Lydia’s world has been in only primary colors until that moment, but when Cora kissed her she could see every color on the spectrum. 

——————

True to her word Cora was there before the sun rose that day.She stepped out of the water, her new legs a little shaky as she did and completely naked.Cora was never covered on top, merpeople didn’t wear clothes and it would seem unnatural for her to wear anything, but not that she had legs Lydia felt like she needed to avert her eyes and give Cora privacy.She handed her a towel and a green dress and then turned so Cora could dress. 

“Legs are very odd,” Cora said as they walked up the beach toward the road, “I am not sure I like them yet.”

“I’ve had them for twenty year and I still don’t like them very much,” Lydia said, slipping her hand into Cora’s as they walked.“Are you hungry?”

They spent the day doing all the things Lydia usually did, reading books at the library, well Lydia read to Cora since she couldn’t read English, they went to the bakery and each got a pastry, they walked by where Stiles had lived, they stopped into Lydia’s house when her dad was out. 

“If it meant I could stay with you, I would keep these legs,” Cora said softly as they made their way back to the beach as the sun was starting to set.

“If it meant I could stay with you I would gladly leave this place forever,” Lydia replied, kissing Cora more forcefully then before, running a hand over her sides, pulling her close. 

When they broke apart they were both breathless and the sun was nearly set.“I have to go, I’ll be back tomorrow.”Lydia sat on her rock at watched the water long after Cora was gone, the longing in her stomach had nothing to do with the ocean this time and everything to do with wanting Cora to come back already. 

—————

The month between the new moon when Cora came onto land and the next seemed to take an eternity. Their hours at sunrise had never been long enough, but now they felt like a blink and they were over. They spent most of their time swimming and Cora talked about her family, about their home under the sea, about the home she was making for her and Lydia.

“It’s nothing fancy like your home here,” She said one morning, looking away from Lydia, “But I hope you’ll like it.”

“If you’re there I will,” Lydia said, her heart pounding in her chest as she looked at Cora.“I wonder what my tail will look like.”

“It will be beautiful, just like you.” Cora said, kissing her lightly before swimming away that morning. 

——————

The night before the new moon Lydia hugged her father and penned a letter for him, telling him she had met someone and was running away to live a life at sea.It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either.For all of his faults, he was her father and she would miss him, but he wasn’t a reason for her to stay, not when she had so many reasons to go.She was like a fish in a tiny tank, it she stayed she would never grown, would never see the world, but if she left she would grow into who she was truly meant to be. 

When she woke on the morning of the new moon she made her way to the shore as she always did, but this time her heart was pounding in her chest and she was jittery with excitement. 

Cora was there waiting, already half on the rock.Lydia ran toward her, stopping just short of the water’s edge. “Are you ready? Cora asked, sounding nervous, “You don’t have to."

“I know,” Lydia said, stepping into the water and feeling a rush as she walked further, until she was fully immerse. 

Cora slid off the rock and swam over to Lydia, “Now we wait for sunrise,” Cora whispered in in her ear, sending a chill down Lydia’s spine.She kicked out a little further before pulling her dress over her head and letting it float away.Cora reached her right as the sun crested over the horizon.

“Are you ready?” Cora asked, taking Lydia’s hand in hers as Lydia felt her legs start to fuse together and suddenly she didn’t have legs, she had a tail.

“Look at it,” Lydia said, her voice awed as she flipped onto her back so she could see her tail.It was a slivery green color, long, and beautiful.Lydia felt more like herself then she ever had in her life, like she had always been meant to be a mermaid and not a human.

“Look at you,” Cora said, her eyes wide.She reached out and touched the tail, her hand gentle as she did.“You’re perfect.”

Lydia kissed her and kissed her and kissed her because if Lydia was perfect then so was Cora.They both had faults, they did argue sometimes, they may have driven each other crazy from time to time, but they always kept coming back to each other. “Let’s go home,” Lydia said and Cora smile widened.

“I’m going to warn you, it took Stiles a few weeks to really get used to his tail and fins,” Cora said as they dove underwater.For a moment Lydia was scared that she wouldn’t be able to breathe but then Cora spoke again, “Just breathe like you normally would.”

She did.Took a deep breathe and found that it was just like breathing.“I’m not worried about taking a long as Stiles, if you had known him when he had feet you’d know he’s just an uncoordinated person.”

Cora laughed and then they swam.It must have been for miles, it took them nearly an hour to swim there, but when they reached the village it was everything Lydia had imagined and more.“Cora,” She said, turning to her, eyes wide, “This is the most wonderful place I’ve ever seen.”

“This way,” Cora said, flipping her fins behind her as she led lead Lydia toward cluster of little houses made of rocks, seaweed, and shells.“This one's ours.”

They swam inside and Lydia was suddenly hit with a sense of home and of belonging that she had never felt before in her life. She looked at Cora and she knew, without a doubt, that she had made the right choice by coming with her. 

“I’m home,” Lydia said, more for herself then for Cora, but it didn’t matter who it was said for, because it was true.Cora kissed her and kissed her and kissed her. 

“My family wants to meet you, but I figured we could spend today just us.” Cora said and Lydia nodded in agreement.

“Well, are you going to show me around or what,” She said and Cora laughed. 

“Right this way princess,” Cora said with a fake little bow. 

The house was small but it was perfect, it had everything Lydia had ever pictured in a home, but mostly it had Cora.She felt the last piece that had been missing inside of her slide into place as Cora wrapped an arm around her waist and kiss her on the neck.She was home. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on [tumblr](sterekseason.tumblr.com), come play!


End file.
